Kolachky

"My father and grandparents were born in Czechoslovakia. I use to watch my grandmother make these small pastries at Christmas time and I couldn't wait to eat them when she was all done. I do hope you will enjoy this recipe as much as I do. You will need a large area to work."

Directions

In a large bowl, mix together cream cheese and butter until well blended. I like to use my hands, but you can also use a wooden spoon. Mix in the flour 1 cup at a time. As the dough becomes stiff, turn it out onto the counter and knead in flour until it is no longer sticky. Continue to knead the dough for 5 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Crush the walnuts to a fine consistency in a food processor. Stir in the egg and honey. On a well floured surface, roll the dough out to 1/4 inch thickness. Cut the dough into 3x3 inch squares. Place a teaspoon of filling in the center of each square. Use walnut for some and poppyseed for the rest. Roll the squares up and seal the edges. These can also be formed into triangles. Place the cookies 2 inches apart onto ungreased cookie sheets. Brush with egg white.

Bake for 15 to 17 minutes in the preheated oven, or until lightly browned. When cool, dust with confectioners' sugar.

Most Helpful Positive Review

Dec 15, 2007

I am a professional chef and regularly use this site for ideas, recipes and feedback. I will never rate a recipe unless it is excellent because I feel personal tastes don't ensure proper criticism. But in the case where a recipe is absolutely superb, I will give my feedback and this cookie recipe is one of the best I have tried here. I added 1/2 cup of sugar, 1 tsp of salt and 1 oz of Canadian Club Whiskey only because I wanted to enhance the creaminess of the cream cheese, and blend the flavors with the alcohol. I also remember my slovak grandmother using whiskey when she made these cookies. Your recipe brought back many happy memories. Great recipe! Thanks*****!

Most Helpful Critical Review

Oct 06, 2011

I work for Chech boss and every year in May Prauge,OK. Has a Kolache(that's how they spell it) festival and we make these every year and we always make a lot of differnt fillings for these and like they get almost a crumble topping and are amazing and I hate pastry! I get these all the time the little doughnut places my town sell these

My Mom is American born but 100% Hungarian and we both make these, although we also make apricot and prune filled 'cakes' as well as the nut. My family calls them 'little cakes' for some reason. To make a truer apricot filling than pie filling, we buy the dried apricots, then boil them until soft, then mash with sugar and a little vanilla. The prunes get the same method but no vanilla. Much better than pie filling. Also, to keep your cakes neat and not split open, make sure you pinch the corners over the filling. I then twist the dough ends after pinching to make them look pretty. We also bake them at 375 for 9-11 minutes vs. 350 degrees. I've been making these for over 30 years, since I was a small child helping my Mom and Grandma in the kitchen, and they're by far my favorite cookie of all time. Enjoy!
BTW--they freeze well, just don't dust with confectioner's sugar until you serve them.

Every year at Christmas time my Polish great grandmother would make these. This is the closest I have found to her recipe. My grandma would make them round however. I find that the smaller you make these, the less time you bake them, and the moister they come out. I suggest using a shot glass (dip the rim of the glass in flour to prevent sticking). Fill with your choice of filling and fold 2 sides in towards the center (pinch to secure) or even just leave them flat. Either way these little beauties come out perfect every time.

I just made these this afternoon as a suprise for my husband (he is 1/2 Czech). They turned out great! He said they looked store bought. I used apricot filling instead of the poppyseed. If you make both the fillings - cut back the walnut version to half - I had a ton of the walnut mixture leftover. Worth the 3 hours it took to make these - they will be on the annual christmas cookie list. Thanks for a yum-yum receipe!

They're just like the ones my Grandmother from Czechoslovakia use to make. She never learned to write in English, so I wasn't able to reproduce those wonderful little cookies until now. I'm teaching my 11 yo niece and 7 yo daughter to make them so they too can carry on a tradition.

These cookies were pretty good! I had a hard time understanding how to shape them around the filling, but I ultimately decided to just bring 2 opposite corners of each square up and over the filling and pinch them together on top. They were pretty and tasted great. I think no matter how you shape them they are likely to be tasty. Great recipe overall.

*Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.

**Nutrient information is not available for all ingredients. Amount is based on available nutrient data.

(-)Information is not currently available for this nutrient. If you are following a medically restrictive diet, please consult your doctor or registered dietitian before preparing this recipe for personal consumption.